Economic use
Cawfields QuarryThe physical properties of the Whin Sill dolerite make it a good source of roadstone, crushed rock aggregate, riprap and armour stone. ‘Northumberland Whinstone’ has long been exploited for these purposes from quarries across the outcrop. Its intractable nature generally precludes its use as a building stone, though it has been employed locally in a few buildings, notably the now abandoned quarrymens’ cottages at Barrasford Quarry.
Large, abandoned quarries in the main sill at Walltown, Cawfields and West Whelpington were once important sources both of crushed rock for roadstone, and as shaped blocks or setts, for road paving and kerb stones.
Similar dolerite was formerly worked from the Haydon Bridge Dyke, at West Mill Hills, east of Haydon Bridge: this quarry was backfilled and the site completely landscaped in the early 1980s. It was also formerly worked from one of the Carboniferous dykes north of Bellingham. Very small pits have been worked for dolerite from the Cainozoic Acklington Dyke in the Cartington area, though there are no operating quarries within the present district.
‘Whinstone’ quarrying remains an important industry in Barrasford, Swinburne, Divethill, and, just outside the district, Howick and Longhoughton supplying crushed dolerite products for use widely across northern England.
On the south side of the Cheviot massif, the small intrusion of Devonian age near Biddleston has been worked for crushed rock and roadstone at Harden Quarry [NT 958 086]. The natural bright red colour of the rock makes it sought after for specialised uses such as surfacing the hard shoulders on Britain’s motorways and, perhaps most famously, for lining The Mall in London.
The Cottonshope basalts have been quarried on a modest scale, probably mainly for local use as roadstone and walling stone. There is extensive use of local volcanic stone for walling despite its round profile.
Future working of any mineral deposit is dependent upon a complex range of commercial and planning considerations, but it seems likely that demand for roadstone, crushed rock and the other products currently extracted within the district will continue for the foreseeable future. Substantial reserves of rock of satisfactory quality are understood to remain at several, or all, of the working quarries within the district.
Additional workable reserves of dolerite capable of meeting commercial specifications could no doubt be identified within the district, though planning and environmental conditions would have to be met in any proposals for working.
